Everyone is Zooming just now.
I may be slow to catch up, but last evening had my first Zoom-enabled meeting. The Fairwarp Village Hall Committee kindly invited me to join, so there I was. And several things became clear. First, the summer fete – that great event in the village calendar – had to be cancelled. Who knows quite what the situation will be in July? Then, we wondered whether a village picnic later in the summer or early autumn might be a runner. Again: who can tell? But when it came to how the village pub was surviving, it was good to learn that our distant Blandford Brewery – we’re pretty much as far East as they reach! - has been excellent in the support package it’s provided.
Looking further ahead, both pub landlord Dave and I were equally in the dark. Might pubs and churches be open again by Christmas? Possibly not. For people who like to have their lives planned and clearly set out, our present situation is awful. Uncertainty about the future may gnaw at us. One of the sayings of Jesus seems particularly relevant: ‘Do not worry about your life.’ Hard advice, in a way, but we need to be saved from anxiety. We simply have to trust, as Mother Julian said, that ‘all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well’. That’s what we need to hear ‘in the deep heart’s core’.
Fr John
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